Before He Cheats
by xoxo.magpie
Summary: A oneshot in which Harry confronts his cheating boyfriend, the one and only Draco Malfoy, and things don't go particularly well. T for language.


Before he Cheats

Harry lay alone in the large bed. His eyes were open and he had been staring at the ceiling for the past hour and a half. Draco had said he would be getting home late that night, but this was beyond late. Two in the morning- there was no way that the blonde was still working at that hour of the night, and that could only mean one thing.

He cheated.

Fucking cheated.

Harry had been trying to convince himself that that wasn't the case- maybe Draco was staying late at the office to finish a project and fell asleep there. Maybe he ran into Pansy or Blaise or gone out for drinks but, well. The last time he'd told himself that the man had returned at six AM smelling of cheap whiskey and unknown cologne.

It wasn't that Harry was a particularly jealous boyfriend. He was used to his blonde partner flirting with men and women alike. He was used to the man checking out others, he knew that as long as Draco was coming home to him they were still alright but now, now Draco wasn't home. He was somewhere else, probably brushed up beside some bimbo, Harry could see it now. Draco's hands on some other mans, body behind him as he taught him how to play pool (the blonde's favoured bar activity), or as they danced together.

It sent cold, angry shivers down his spine.

Pushing himself out of bed, Harry pulled a pair of tight jeans on, throwing on a sweater that, upon contemplation he realized it wasn't even his, and making his way out of the house. Where would Draco be?

Grabbing a broom from beside the door, he was out of the house and gone, in front of the bar he knew Draco frequented and he climbed off the broom. Grasping it in one hand, he slipped inside, meshed among the bodies of others, his raven hair disappeared with the darkness of the club and his emerald eyes stood out, scanning, searching and then- there.

Clutching the mans broom tight in his, he forced himself not to drive his key into the soft wood, marking it. Instead he made his way towards the man that had up until that night been his, and before he was thinking about it their faces were only inches apart.

"You..." He began, ready to say... something. Ready to call the man out for cheating, for leaving him, for disappearing into the night so many times and leaving Harry alone with his nightmares, but before he could there were lips on his. Soft, tender, familiar and yet new lips.

"You hate me." Draco whispered, a hand moving up into Harry's messy black hair, fingers locking around it, other hand moving to rest on his lovers firm chest, tightening around the shirt that he recognized instantly as his.

"Are you cheating on me?" Harry whispered, the five most pained words. But he needed to know. He kept their lips apart, foreheads touching as he felt hot tears stinging behind his eyes. "I. I just need to know, Draco. I can't lie awake every night... wondering if you're coming home or if you're out fucking some dude. I can't... handle this, this is too much emotional stress, too much up and down I just-"

"Love, don't cry..." Draco whispered, leaning forward to kiss away the other mans tears, shaking his head. "Please... You know I don't like seeing you like this..."

"You did then, didn't you? You cheated on me." Silence from the blonde confirmed it and Harry yanked away from him, shaking his head. "I can't _fucking_ handle this, Draco! You need to make up your mind. I'm not a jealous boyfriend, I'm lenient, I know you need your space and I know you're not a clingy person, I respect... no, I love you for it. But if you're going to keep doing this to me, then I need out, I need out before you break my heart. I should have known, Draco..." Stepping back, he turned. "I'll be gone by morning." He whispered, and he was out of the club.

Outside it was raining and he stood, unable to believe he'd actually just told the man he'd been with for the better part of six years now that he'd be gone by morning. That he was leaving. Reaching a hand up he used the back of it to wipe the tears crudely from his face, shoulders hunching down as the rain pelted on his back. Climbing on the broom, he took a breath and then as he was about to kick off, he felt a hand on his thigh.

"Harry." Came a whispered plea, the Draco he looked back at looked weak, exhausted, sore from the war, from the following years, from never being fully trusted, from the hard life he had lived. His eyes seemed empty, sore, hollow. Draco seemed like completely not himself. "Look at me. Listen, just, just to this, and then make up your mind."

Harry took a breath but slowly, slowly, nodded.

"You have been a part of my life since I was eleven years old. Maybe we didn't used to get along but now... now you're truly the only thing that matters to me. You keep me happy, alive, functioning and complete. You are honestly my better half, and the only person in the world deserving of that title, the only person I would ever dream of giving it to. You're my partner, my lover, my friend, my man. My one and only. I. I'm a fool, Harry, because I forget what you do for me, what you mean for me. Sleeping without you is hell to me, Harry. Being without you would be the end for me, nothing could compare to what we have and. I have issues, Harry. I can't commit, I can't settle down, I can't see what's in front of my face but god damn, I want to. The only thing I want is to be with you, but I know... I'm not good enough for you. I just... if you'll take me... you're all I want."

"I can't... Draco." He whispered, after a long, pained silence. "When things are good, they're amazing but this hurt, this pain that I've gone through before and will go through again, you're taking my broken heart and ripping it out. I just... can't." And with that he kicked off, gone. "I'll be gone by morning." He said, once more, and with that he was gone.

Draco made it back to the apartment alone within the next half hour, and Harry watched as he dragged his worn body into the empty bed.

When Draco awoke, the clock read noon. Normally, the empty bed would just be a sign that Harry had gotten up and was off doing something productive, yet this morning he knew it meant something more. Looking around the room looked different, clothing that had been scattered was gone, the closet was open and half of it was empty. He chocked back a sob and realized he needed a coffee, so he sucked it up and stood.

The bathroom, on his way to the kitchen, was also half empty. Shaving creams were gone and towels were missing. He was almost too depressed to pee. He couldn't believe he'd let the best thing he'd ever had slip through his fingertips.

Making his way to the main room of the house, Draco watched the ground, that was until he heard a noise and glanced up. Instead of the empty living room he was expecting, there sat Harry. Rather, there sat Harry on a large pile of his things.

"What are you-"

"I was packed and ready to go, I made it to the door and couldn't make it thought. I couldn't... believe I was walking away from you." He admitted, standing to become eye level with the blonde.

Draco stepped forward. "You're still wearing my shirt."

"I couldn't... take it off..." He whispered, and the men were face to face again, foreheads touching, fingertips brushing eachothers chests.

"Does this mean...?"

"No... yes. Maybe.. I don't know..."

Draco swallowed, and looked at him. "I'm going to change, Harry. This time. I can't... can't afford to loose you."

"I don't know if I believe you..." He admitted, with a low sigh, looking down and then back up to his boyfriend.

"Give me five months. If I haven't changed, you can go, but if I have... then... you'll marry me."

"Marry you?"

"Yes."

"For... real?"

"Yes."

"Five months then."

"Thats all I need, love. That's all I need."


End file.
